at 4:00 actor justine bateman with "fame". also at 5:30, the author of the book white. and at 7:00 larry elder author of double standards. be sure to watch our live weekend coverage of the los angeles times festival of books, starting at 1:30 p.m. eastern saturday and sunday, on book tv on c-span 2. :: >> thank you very much. it's a great honor to have president moon of south korea with us and a very, very great

privilege to have mrs. kim. thank you very much, very much. we hope you enjoy your stay. we are discussing many, many important things including, obviously, north korea, the relationships with north korea. i had in many respects a very good meeting. we did not fulfill what we wanted to, but in many ways we -- certain things were agreed to. my relationship is very good with, as you know, chairman kim. and i think that it will go on that way. we'll see. we'll probably know, but we'll be discussing that, we'll be discussing trade, military, military purchases. south korea buys a great deal of equipment from us, especially military equipment. please, go ahead. >> [speaking in native tongue]

>> [speaking in native tongue] >> we've just recently completed a new and very, very large trade deal with south korea, and it's just now going into effect, and and it will very much increase trade both ways between our two countries. it's a very important transaction and something we've been working on for quite a while. i know that for years they've

been working on trying to redo it, and we have a new deal, and it's been, i think, very, very good for both our countries. big difference. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> president moon and south korea have agreed to purchase a tremendous amount of our military equipment from jet fighters to missiles, to lots of other things. we make the finest equipment in the world, by far, and we appreciate the purchase. it's a very large purchase. and we always appreciate that. >> [speaking in native tongue]

>> i think i can say that our relationship has never been better. our relationship is on a personal basis very, very close. the first ladies, likewise, extremely close. and i think that that will continue for a long time into the future, forever. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> so we'll be having individual meetings later on and all throughout the day with different people from different

departments and representatives. the president and myself will be meeting right now in the oval office, then we'll meet with our groups in the cabinet room, as you know, and i think it'll be very productive. it's going to be a very productive day. i just do want to tell you that great progress has been made and a great relationship has been made in north korea too. kimkim jong un has been really somebody that i've gotten to know very well and respect and, hopefully -- and i really believe -- that over a period of time a lot of tremendous things will happen. i think north korea has a tremendous potential, and i believe that president moon agrees with that, and we will be discussing that and even potential meetings, further meetings with north korea and kim jong un. so i want to extend my warmest wishes to the people of south

korea, and i think indirectly i can truly say i want to the extend my warmest wishes to kim jong un and the people of north korea. i think the relationship has become far different and far better than it was when i first took office or at the end, certainly, of the obama administration. and it's a great honor to be with you, mr. president, and thank you very much. >> [speaking in native tongue]

>> [speaking in native tongue] >> [speaking in native tongue]

>> >> [speaking in native tongue] [laughter] >> translator: mr. president, i would like to thank you for inviting us to the white house and also warmly welcoming us. in particular last night at the blue house, i saw the beautiful flowers that you had sent with a personally signed cards, and i was really moved by your meticulous care, and especially my wife was moved. >> [speaking in native tongue]

>> translator: in particular i have -- which i'd like to express my gratitude to the united states. recently, there was a big forest fire in korea in the province of -- at the time, the u.s. has supported us through the provision of many helicopters, and this really helped us put out the fire. lots of korean people are very grateful for this. >> thank you. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: and today is a meaningful day for all the korean people because it marks the centennial anniversary of the establishment of the

provisional government of korea. and i heard at both the senate and at the houses that they introduced a resolution celebrating this momentous day, so i'd like to thank you for that also. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> [speaking in native tongue]

>> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: and after you had met chairman kim in singapore on june 12th last year, we have witnessed a dramatic turn around regarding the political situation on the korean peninsula. previously because of the repeated nuclear missile threat from north korea, we saw that the military tension at the time had been greater, and we were in a very precarious situation. however, since you met chairman kim and you initiated personal diplomacy with him, we saw a dramatic reduction of military

tension on the korean peninsula, and now peace has prevailed. all the korean people have now, now we believe that you will be able to solve this problem through a dialogue. so i have to say that this dramatic turn-around that we have witnessed is solely down to your strong leadership. >> thank you very much. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: well, in this sense i believe that the hanoi summit is not actually, was not a source of disappointment, but it is actually the part of a bigger process that will lead us to a bigger agreement. >> [speaking in native tongue]

>> translator: so the important task that we face right now is to maintain the momentum of dialogue and also express the positive outlook regarding the third u.s./north korea summit to the international community, that this will be held in the near future. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: so in this regard, i'd like to express my high regard for how you have continued to express your trust towards chairman kim and also how you have made sure that north korea does not defuate from the dialogue -- deviate from the dialogue track. i'd like to express my gratitude for this. >> [speaking in native tongue]

>> translator: and let me reiterate9 that the republic of korea is absolutely on the same page when it comes to the end state of the complete denuclearization of north korea. and i can reassure you that we will remain in such great collaboration with the united states. there'll be no daylight until we achieve our ultimate goal. >> thank you very much. i have to go just one step further, and i want to thank china who's really helped us a lot at the border. i also want to thank russia, was they have helped us -- because they have helped us, and they've helped us quite a bit more than people think at the border. so both china and russia have really been quite good.

that doesn't mean they can't get better, but they've been quite good at the border, and i just want to thank both of those countries. as we've said, a lot of progress has been made. we will have further dialogue, and i look forward to it. my relationship with kim jong un has been a very strong relationship. i've had some very strong relationships with others, but i have a very, very good relationship with kim jong un, and i think you see that. and we'll see what happens. hopefully, it'll end up in a great solution for everybody and, result i, a great -- ultimately, a great solution for the world. because it is about the world. it's more than just this area. it's about the world. and, frankly, the world is watching. i want to thank you for your leadership. your leadership has been outstanding, and i look forward to talking about other this things also, and in particular all of that equipment that you're buying. we like that in the united states. we like that you buy our great equipment.

so, again,ing thank you very much and thank you for your leadership. [inaudible conversations] >> [speaking in native tongue] >> [speaking in native tongue]

>> yes, please. >> mr. president, are you, on economic prompts south korea and north korea, are you willing to allow some leeway in relaxing sanctions so that south korea can pursue some to more economic projects with north korea? >> well, we are discussing certain humanitarian things right now, and i'm okay with that, to be honest. i think you have to be okay with that. and south korea's doing certain things to help out with food and various other things for north korea. and we'll be discussing different things inside. again, the relationship is a much different relationship than it was two years ago. you remember what that was all about. and certainly, during the obama administration where nuclear weapons were being tested often,

where rockets and missiles were being sent up in many cases over japan, and we are in a much different situation right now. so we'll be discussing that. very much, actually. [inaudible conversations] >> do you still love wikileaks? >> i know nothing about wikileaks. it's not my thing. and i know there is something having to do with julian assange. i've been seeing what's happened with assange, and that will be a determination. i would imagine mostly by the attorney general, who's doing an excellent job. so he'll be making a determination. i know nothing really about him. it's not my deal in life. >> what would you like to see happen? [inaudible conversations] >> i don't really have any opinion. i know the attorney general will be involved in that, and he'll make a decision. okay? >> mr. president -- [inaudible] >> yes, i am. i think what he said was

absolutely true. there was absolutely spying into my campaign. i'll go a step further, in my opinion it was illegal spying, unprecedented spying and something that should never be allowed to happen in our country again. and i think his answer was, actually, a very accurate one, and a lot of people saw that -- and a lot of people understand, many, many people understand the situation and want to be open to that situation. hard to believe it could have happened, but it did. there was spying in my campaign, and his answer was a very accurate one. [inaudible conversations] >> third summit with north korea's chairman in mind, and is that -- >> it could happen. a third summit could happen, and it's step by step. it's not a fast process, i've never said it would be. it's step by step. i enjoy the summits, i enjoy being with the chairman. i think it's been very productive, and it really is, it's a step by step. not going to go fast. i've been telling you that for a long time. if it goes fast, it's not going

to be the proper deal. >> [inaudible] >> well, that could happen also. i think that would be largely dependent on chairman kim, because president moon will do what's necessary. i know president moon has been fighting this battle for a long time. he's done an excellent job. i consider him a great ally. and a lot of good things are happening. a lot of good things are happening in the world. our economy is the best it's ever been, our employment numbers, unemployment and employment are the best they've ever been. we have more people working right now in the united states than we've ever had before, almost 160 million people. and likewise, south korea's doing very well. their economy is doing very well, and i think our trade deal has helped that process. so we're sitting on two great uncountries right now, and we're leading two great countries, and we think that -- i can speak for myself and i think i can speak for president moon, we think that north korea has tremendous

potential. really potential under the leadership of kim jong un. let's see how it all works out. >> mr. president, have you -- [inaudible conversations] >> kim jong un in the last few weeks -- >> i don't want to comment on that, but we have a very good relationship. [inaudible conversations] >> [inaudible] >> no, i'm not concerned about anything because, frankly, there was no collusion and there was no obstruction. and we never did anything wrong. the people that did something wrong were the other side, the dirty cops and a lot of the problems that were caused, it's a disgrace what happened. and, again, it should never happen to a president again. you're just lucky i happen to be the president, because a lot of other presidents would have reacted much differently than i reacted. you're very lucky i was the president during this scam. during the russian hoax, as i call it. so, no, i'm not concerned at all. the bottom line, the result is no collusion, no obstruction. and that's the way it is.

and i know a lot of people were very disappointed, but they knew the real answer. you know, when the democrats go behind the scenes and they go into a room backstage and they sit and they talk, they laugh because they know it's all a big scam, a big hoax. and it's called politics, but this is dirty politics, and this is actually treason. it's a very bad thing that people have done. and i just hope that law enforcement takes it up, because if they don't take it up, they're doing a great disservice to our country. yes, go ahead, please. >> [inaudible] >> no, we're talking about long term, and we always talk about long term. we want to have long term. our relationship with south korea is extraordinary. and we only think in terms of south korea with south korea, okay? [inaudible conversations] >> yes, sir, go ahead. >> [inaudible]

>> explain that to me, please? >> translator: how much do you support my president's push for economic -- [inaudible] which include the joint inter-korean and joint industrial complex and perhaps -- >> well, at the right time i would have great support. this isn't the right time. but at the right time, i'd have great support with north korea, great support. i think that south korea, i think japan and i think that the u.s., i think a lot of countries will be helping. china, i really believe, will help. i think that russia will help. i think a lot of countries will help when the right deal is made and when the nuclear weapons are made. i just think that north korea has potential as great as anything i've ever seen in terms of potential. they have an unbelievable location surrounded by sea on two sides and on the other side russia, china and over here south korea. you just can't do better than that. and they have magnificent land.

it has tremendous potential. >> [inaudible] >> translator: so the question was if north korea actually submit a road map regarding complete denuclearization, are you, are the two presidents, will you be discussing this issue at the summit meetinged today? >> yes, we will. we will be discussing it, certainly. that's a very prime topic for our meeting today, and we hope that's going to happen, yes. >> is your position still that sanctions should stay in place on north korea until there is denuclearization, or are you willing to consider easing sanctions to keep the talks going? >> no, we want sanctions to remain in place and, frankly, i

had the option of significantly increasing them. i didn't want to do that because of my relationship with kim jong un. i did not want to do that. i didn't think it was the necessary. as you know, a couple of weeks ago i held it back, but i think that sanctions are right now at a level that's a fair level, and and i really believe something very significant's going to happen. we could always increase them, but i didn't want to do that at this time. >> mr. president, would you accept a smaller deal to keep the process going, as president moon called it? >> i'd have to see what the deal is. there are various smaller deals that maybe could happen. things could happen. you can work out step by step pieces, but at this moment we're talking about the big deal. the big deal is we have to get rid of the nuclear weapons. thank you very much, everybody. thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> you know, there are 15 players capable of winning, and i guess you could say there are a lot more than that. i don't think a field for the

masters has ever been this deep. i was watching late last night, and they were going over the different players. i think the field has never been so deep. but always phil and tiger and dustin. i mean, you have so many great players. but they were just saying they're younger, they're stronger, they've never hit the ball this long, they've never hit the ball this accurately, they've never putted better than they do now. you know, the whole thing is pretty incredible, but the field is very, very deep. i think it's going to be a great masters. i hope so. thank you very much, everybody. [inaudible conversations] >> agriculture secretary sonny perdue answered questions about the president's 2020 budget request today at a senate appropriations subcommittee

hearing. the plan proposes 15% less for the department with cuts in crop insurance subsidies, conservation programs, foreign food aid and s.n.a.p.. see that hearing tonight at eight eastern on c-span2. >> c-span's "washington journal" live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up friday morning, a discussion of the two main elements of the mueller report, collusion and obstruction of justice, with two former federal prosecutors, harry sandic and kimberly whaley. then florida republican congressman john rutherford joins us to talk about border security and news of the day. be sure to watch c-span's "washington journal" live at seven eastern friday morning. join the discussion. ♪ >> box tv has lye -- booktv

has live weekend coverage of the los angeles time festival of books from the campus of the university of southern california starting saturday at 1:30 eastern featuring the author of "guns down at 2:30." at 4, roxane gay her book, "not that bad: dispatches from rape culture." at 5:30, bess macy with done sick, and at 7:00, james dun van with shoot for the moon. our live coverage continues sunday at 1:30 p.m. eastern featuring former homeland security secretary janet napolitano discussing her book, "how safe are we." at 4:00, actor justine basement with "fame." and at 7, larry elder, author of "double standards." be sure to watch our live weekend coverage of the los angeles times festival of books starting at 1:30 p.m. saturday and sunday on booktv on

c-span2. >> white house national economic council director larry kudlow this morning said the white house is, quote, for the moment standing by herman cain to stand on the federal reserve board. his remarks came in an interview with bob cusack of "the hill" newspaper. >> [laughter] >> i can't walk, i'm sorry. my back was thrown out yesterday. in texas. on an airplane and helicopters. [laughter] in several cities selling pipelines. pipelines, all right? pipelines. >> well, thank you for being with us, director kudlow. anyone who has back pain